Question for GOP: Will You Vote to Fund Obamacare

In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Obamacare almost in its entirety, there will be copious pages of commentary written about the legal arguments, the precedents for the future, and the politics of the Supreme Court. None of that matters for us and our community of liberty-minded activists. The most salient question is where do we go from here? Are we willing to let this travesty stand?

There is nothing we can do about the Supreme Court. Justices, even those who are political conservative, will buy into quirky legal rationale and exhibit unique jurisprudence. What we must do now is focus on the elected branches of government.

When Republicans took over the House last year, they promised to repeal Obamacare. They also promised that in the likely scenario that their repeal bill is blocked in the Senate, they would refuse to fund Obamacare in the annual appropriations bills that fund the various agencies that oversee Obamacare. They passed the “Ryan budget,” which defunded Obamacare. But then as the clock wound down to midnight, September 30, and the threat of a government shutdown scared them to death, they caved and agreed to an omnibus bill that included funding for Obamacare.

That must change now.

Part of the rationale for agreeing to fund Obamacare at the time was that many Republicans believed the Supreme Court would strike it down. Well, that didn’t happen. Now you will hear many Republicans say that we’ll repeal it next year when Romney wins the White House and Republicans take back the Senate. However, there are too many hypotheticals involved in that scenario. What if Romney loses? What if Republicans fail to win 51 seats? What if several of the members, including the likes of Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski balk at using reconciliation to repeal the full law? We simply cannot let this thing stand and hope for repeal next year. We must defund it now, while continuing to fight for full repeal.

All Republicans in the House have to do is stick to their budget. They must tell Senate Democrats that they will not agree to fund Obamacare. If Democrats want to force a government shutdown over funding for a program that 72% of Independents wanted repealed, then let’s have that debate. We have no other choice at this point. Obamacare, when fully enacted, will take over 1/6 of our economy, create permanent dependency for tens of millions of Americans, induce unsustainable inflationary pressure on the cost of healthcare and health insurance, and saddle the next generation with crippling debt.

If we’ve learned anything from past experiences, it’s that no government entitlement program is ever repealed once the dependency takes root. If there’s anything important enough and as politically unpopular enough to use in a battle over a government shutdown, Obamacare is it.

It is incumbent upon the conservative movement and the Tea Party to get all members of Congress and Republican candidates on record to pledge to oppose any spending bill that contains funding for Obamacare. That is our next seminal battle.

Let’s not get caught up in the minutia of convoluted legal arguments and the ridiculous quirks of the Supreme Court. What’s done is done. It’s time to act.